1 . How to Develop a Positive Attitude towards Life

Negative attitudes bring about negative results and positive attitudes can bring positive changes. For those who want to develop a positive attitude towards life, here are some simple steps.

Stop complaining.     1    Wear a bracelet(手镯) or a rubber band around one wrist. Whenever you find yourself complaining, switch the bracelet to the other wrist. Your goal should be to have the bracelet stay on the original wrist as long as possible.

    2    We all have negative thoughts from time to time, either about ourselves or our situation. While it is impossible to stop negative thoughts from forming, it is possible to change the negative thought to something positive.

Be grateful.    3    Even if it is just gratitude for being alive, for breathing, for the beautiful weather, there is truly something positive occurring. Make the effort to recognize all that is right in your life instead of always focusing on what is wrong.

Love yourself. Contrary to what many people think, loving yourself is really a wise decision.    4    If you have problems with this, positive affirmation(肯定) and self-esteem-building exercises may help.

    5    This doesn't mean you should accept bad behavior or allow others to treat you poorly, but realizing that acting lovingly towards others will go much further than acting selfishly. Not only that but also doing nice things for others can help you feel good as well.

A．It is hard for many of us to forget the wrongdoings of our past.

B．Turn negative thoughts to positive ones.

C．Decide to love others, no matter what.

D．Adopt the motto “Everything happens for a reason.”

E．Too many of us focus on our faults instead of recognizing how truly special we are.

F．This is easier said than done, but a simple trick may help.

G．No matter how difficult your life seems, there is always something to thank for.

2 . The sweetest memory of my childhood is about a round table. When I was still little, my _______ family would get together on different traditional festivals to _______ dinner. We kids would be sitting around or playing hide-and-seek under the table _______ the grown-ups were having a chat.

When I got a bit _______ , my aunt brought back her boyfriend and my grandma cheerfully _______ another seat to the round table. It seemed a little more _______ , but we all felt much closer to each other. When I was twelve, my grandpa _______ . That made us feel _______ . However, when the whole family got together once again, we totally _______ that his chair, his bowl and his chopsticks should __________ the same. Even though his seat was __________ , we felt like that he had never left us.

We all have a table like this in our __________ . It is a sign of reunion of our family __________ our feelings. Although the __________ why we come together may be different, the feelings behind it are the __________ . Usually different cultures are __________ by us around the table. What’s more, we __________ the love not only for our family, but also for a company, our __________ and even the whole world.

The history of our nation has been the stories of looking for or running to the round table which we belong to. The round table has been a __________ of the Chinese feelings. It was, it is and will __________ be.

1.

A．happy

B．whole

C．dear

D．warm

2.

A．cook

B．make

C．prepare

D．have

3.

A．while

B．or

C．but

D．so

4.

A．taller

B．bigger

C．older

D．stronger

5.

A．set

B．lay

C．fetched

D．added

6.

A．crowded

B．friendly

C．enjoyable

D．different

7.

A．was in debt

B．fell ill

C．lost his job

D．passed away

8.

A．mad

B．sad

C．worried

D．nervous

9.

A．agreed

B．imagined

C．guessed

D．judged

10.

A．leave

B．place

C．remain

D．repeat

11.

A．missing

B．empty

C．taken

D．dirty

12.

A．units

B．societies

C．home

D．families

13.

A．acting

B．showing

C．performing

D．declaring

14.

A．custom

B．fact

C．habit

D．reason

15.

A．common

B．true

C．same

D．deep

16.

A．received

B．accepted

C．refused

D．changed

17.

A．express

B．want

C．impress

D．trust

18.

A．school

B．relatives

C．nation

D．parents

19.

A．milestone

B．mark

C．tool

D．symbol

20.

A．always

B．still

C．even

D．ever

3 . Feeling embarrassed is something that no one really likes.    1    If you’re worried about embarrassing situations and you have trouble dealing with feelings of embarrassment, take a look at the following tips to make things better.

●     2    

When learning to deal with embarrassment, the first big thing that will help you is to realize that embarrassing moments are in the past. These things have already occurred and there is nothing that you can do to change them. It might have been tough to get through those moments, but you’re here now and everything is okay.

●Talk to someone about how you’re feeling.

If you’re struggling with feelings of embarrassment, then you should try to talk to people that you trust.    3    You’ll likely find that these people will put things into perspective and you’ll feel much better.

●     4    

Embarrassment might feel tough to get over. However, normal embarrassing moments might become things that you can just shrug off and laugh at eventually. When you think about things from the right perspective, you might be able to laugh at yourself for making a silly mistake or falling down.

●Get out there and try again.

The fear of embarrassment should not hold you back from getting out there to try again. If you want to move past embarrassment for good, then the best way to do that is not to let it stop you from living your life. This could mean doing the same thing that embarrassed you in the past. You might be worried about reliving embarrassing moments from the past, but it doesn’t have to be this way.     5    

A．Learn to laugh at the situation.

B．Understand that embarrassments are in the past.

C．Don’t worry so much about things and be ready to go out there and give it your all.

D．Know that you don’t need to apologize for feeling embarrassed.

E．Of course, this might depend on the level of embarrassment that you experienced.

F．Tell them how you’re feeling and what happened if you’re comfortable doing that.

G．It’s generally something that most people want to avoid.

4 . It's no surprise that stress and anxiety are often viewed in a negative light, but Lisa Damour, a private-practice psychologist, suggests they're not always bad for us. She claims that a little bit of both can help build mental resilience and these experiences can sometimes benefit us.

Damour explained how stress often occurs when people operate at the edge of their abilities - when they push themselves or are forced by situations to stretch beyond their familiar limits. This can result from both bad and good events, she said. For instance, being fired is stressful, but so is bringing a baby home for the first time. She described how stress is unavoidable in daily life and that medium levels of stress “can have an inoculating function”, which can lead to “higher than average resilience” when we face new difficulties.

“Anxiety gets an unnecessarily bad comment,” she said, “Anxiety is an alarm system inside the body, likely handed down by evolution, which informs us of threats from both outside, such as a driver turning aside suddenly, and inside, such as when we've wasted too much time and it's time to get started on a task.”

Viewing anxiety as sometimes helpful or even protective allows people to make good use of it, suggests Damour. For example, she often tells the teenagers she works with in her practice to pay attention if they start to feel anxious at a party because their nerves may be warning them of a problem.

1. When do people feel stressed according to Damour?

A．They have much work to do.	B．They lose their favorite things.
C．They deal with different situations.	D．They're engaged in doing unfamiliar things.

2. What does the underlined word “inoculating” probably mean in paragraph 2?

A．Unexpected.

B．Unbearable.

C．Positive.

D．Determining.

3. What's the purpose of paragraph 3?

A．To explain the reason for being anxious.	B．To demonstrate the benefits of anxiety.
C．To state the risk of being anxious.	D．To present the solution to anxiety.

4. What does the text mainly talk about?

A．Stress and anxiety aren't always bad.	B．Stress and anxiety are part of our lives.
C．We should focus on positive things in life.	D．We should deal with stress and anxiety carefully.